A New Beginning For a Lost Little Bird
by robinthegirlwonder97
Summary: What will happen to little nine year old Brooke when she runs away after her mom dies, leaving her with an abusive father? How will she survive living on the unforgiving streets of Gotham, where bad people do horrible things? And how will she react when she meets a certain vigilante, giving her a chance at a new beginning?
1. Prologue

**AN: **Okay, so this idea popped up in my head and it would not leave me alone until I wrote it out and uploaded it. So what if a girl with a tragic childhood was adopted by Bruce and became part of the Batfamily? I also wondered what it would be like if she were black (I'm black so this what I imagine what my life would be like if I were part of aforementioned family. So, sue me.) This is only my second story, and my first story with an OC, so please be gentle.

**Warnings:** Language and abuse (verbal, physical, sexual) drinking, and drugs.

* * *

**Something Old**

_SMA__K_

The sound had played over and over in her head, like a broken record. And her cheek throbbing from where she was slapped wasn't helping any either. So there Brooke was, sitting on her bed curled up in a ball and wept silently. While looking out the window at the thunderstorm outside, rain drops hitting the glass, and lightening lighting up the room for a moment as she recalls the events that had just transpired.

_Dad had just staggered home from the bar. But Brooke did see why he needs to go to a bar. As far as she was concerned, he had enough booze to open his own bar. But he still went, and every time when he came home drunk, he would go on a rampage. He would start with mom first. He would go on _and on_ about how she wasn't anything that she's trash. With every insult came a slap or a punch or sometimes even a kick. And all the while Brooke was in the hallway clutching to her teddy bear for comfort, like any normal nine-year old would do._

_When he caught sight of Brooke, she gasped and ran to her room down the hall. Soon her father was in her room and closed the door._

_"What the hell were you doing?" he yelled, slurring his words._

_"I, uh, was um..." she said trying and failing to say what she was doing._

_"Uh, um. Spit it out!" the bastard shouted, losing what was left of his patience._

_"Nothing, daddy. I'm sorry" Brooke said. Her voice otherwise strong, confidence, and cheer were compromised, and were now weak, doubtful, and full of total and complete fear; knowing what is about to happen._

_"Sorry my ass! You always pull this kind of crap" he said as he moved closer to the bed that Brooke was on and started to point his finger at her. "But you know what? You're nothing but trash, worthless!" SLAP "Just like your mother. But at least your mother is pretty. You're the ugliest, most undeserving piece of shit I've seen." And then he started unbuckling his pants.__Then Brooke made the mistake of making a whimper at the degrading words that her father had just said about her._

_SLAP_

_"What did you say? No talking when I'm speaking to you, damnit!"_

_"Y...Yes sir."_

_By this time "daddy" had his pants and boxers down and was moving to do the same to the little girl before him._ _"I didn't even want a girl in the first goddamn place. And I got a girl who's a little bitch. Now I have to show you what bitches go through and how to deal with it because you are always gonna be a bitch."_

_Now Brooke's pants and underwear were down. She knew better than to fight back. The last time, she ended up with a really bad bruise on both arms that was still healing. And she knew better than to scream or yell for help. She always got slapped really hard across the face that would leave a mark. Besides, even if she did scream or yell no one would hear her. The only person who could hear her cries for help were her mother. But she was useless. Mom would always smoke crack after "daddy" would go on his rampage and would be too high to process the thought that her daughter was screaming for help, where her husband was and what he was probably doing, and try to stop whatever was going on._ _So all that little nine-year old Brooke could do was close her eyes, keep her mouth shut, and hope and pray that it would be over soon._

As she sat there in the dark clutching Sparkle (her teddy bear), silently crying, all that Brooke could think of was her father's insults.

_'You're the ugliest, most undeserving piece of shit I've seen.'_

Contrary to what her father said, Brooke was a pretty little girl. She had beautiful chocolate-brown skin, long black hair and eyelashes, big brown eyes, nice smile. In short, she was just as beautiful as her mother was, maybe a little more. Almost everywhere Brooke and her mother, Courtney, went people would say something like "Oh, she's beautiful. She looks just like her mother." Why her father could not see that was beyond not only Brooke, but beyond just about anybody you'd ask. At one point or another, Brooke actually thought that she was pretty. But in coming Julius, the bastard she has for a father, and shattered that thought. Every picture day at her school, Brooke would wear a red dress and everyone would tell her how pretty she looked, but instead she thought_ 'No I don't. I'm a ugly piece of shit' _echoing her father's words. So much for fathers supposed to be boosting their daughter's self-esteem.

But daddy wasn't bad all the time. Sometimes they would sit down on the couch, and watch a movie. He would always drink beer, and asked if she wanted any. Out of curiosity, Brooke would say yes and to her surprise, she _really_ liked it. So they would finish whatever movie they were watching, sharing a bottle of beer. But if you compare the _good_ times versus the _bad_ times with her dad, there was no competition. At least she could go over to her, friend Andy's house and play sometimes. And when she did go, she would stay for as long as she could. Thank God that she was going to Andy's house tomorrow. But for now, Brooke was just going to try to go to sleep. Sleep was good. Sleeping allowed her to escape the world that she lived in and all its problems that came with it. Sleeping let her control the world and the life that she wanted to live. Especially if tonight was one of the nights that daddy came home from the bar drunk. So, Brooke laid there and cried herself to sleep. Yes, sleep truly is good for the soul.

* * *

It was 7:30 on a Wednesday evening. Brooke just came home from Andy's house, and she could tell that something was off. Normally her mom would greet her at the door, but this was not the case. She started looking around the house for mom as she called out "Mom."

Living room... empty.

Dinning room... empty.

Kitchen... empty.

Then she moved to her parents' room when she saw it... or her rather. Her mom, was passed out on the floor. _She must be high. _Brooke immediately thought. She walked over to her mom to wake her up, but tried to no avail. _Uh oh, she normally responds_ Brooke thought as she looked for the place on her neck to check her pulse. _She's not breathing. Her body is... cold. Please god, no. _She found the place on her mom's neck where the pulse can be found, but by now there was really no point. Brooke knew that what had happened. So she sat there and wept over her Mother's body.

After what seemed like forever, she heard her father come in, and Brooke knew that the shit was about to hit the fan.

"Courtney! Brooke!" As her father called her and get Mother's name, she began to cry louder knowing what was about to happen, and steeling herself for it.

"Brooke! What the fuck happened!?" Julius yelled as he stormed in the room.

She looked up at him, tears blurring her vision trying, and once again ultimately failing to speak. "I... I... I, uh" Brooke stuttered.

"Move the fuck over!" he yelled pushing the little girl out the way.

The man did the same thing that Brooke did. Check for a pulse, shuttering at her how cold her body was, and finding that there was no pulse. At first the man just sat there, trying to process everything. After a few moments, realizing what had happened started to get really, _really_, pissed.

"What the fuck did you do?!" and _SLAP_ he hit her across the face. And he kept hitting her, apparently out of a confused, sad, rage. "What the _fuck_ did you do?!" he repeated over and over until it sounded like a broken record. After a while, the man stopped and decided to get a drink to help calm his nerves. It was then and there that Brooke decided that she didn't want to live here anymore if her mom wasn't there. She waited until Julius was completely wasted before she made her move. She stuffed her book bag (which luckily was big) with a few of her favorite things and necessities, grabbed Sparkle, opened the window in her room, climbed down the fire escape, and ran.

* * *

**AN:** Okay, not much happening in this chapter. This is just the prologue that establishes Brooke's tragic childhood. I don't know if it was a little too over the top. If it was, please let me know and I'll make the adjustments.

And PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you thought. Constructive criticism is welcome. And thanks for reading!


	2. You gotta do what you gotta do

**AN: **Ooookay, so the story starts to pick up a little here.

**Warnings****:** Child abuse.

* * *

** You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do**

It didn't take long for Brooke to realize that being out on the streets of Gotham at night, probably wasn't a good idea, but she didn't care. It was better that being in that hell hole, where the bastard might wake up again and do had knows what to her. And definitely wasn't a good idea being on the streets of Gotham _alone_- especially in Crime Ally-after dark with a clouded mind, and not paying attention to your surroundings or where you're going.

Thinking about her mother, made tears come to Brooke's eyes. _She's really gone. She's really gone... and I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. No! No, stop feeling sorry for yourself! It's not going to bring her back. Nothing's going to bring her back... _Brooke thought as more tears streamed down her face. It wasn't until her stomach growled that she realized that she hadn't eaten since lunch at school that was at 11:45 and that it was now nearing 8 PM. So, yes, she was really hungry. But Brooke had to but her bookbag down somewhere because it was getting heavy. _An abandoned apartment building should suffice, _the girl thought as she was nearing her destination.

She didn't walk long until a thought came to her. _Why hasn't someone tried to kidnap or rob me by now?_ When walking past a dark ally, Brooke received her answer. She saw BATMAN! And he was beating the crap out of those thugs. The sounds of bones breaking, moans and wails that were full of agony and pain, and the sight of blood was too much for Brooke. And it didn't help that she could make out Batman's silhouette either. So she did the only thing logical thing-the only thing really- that she could think of. She ran. She ran from her father. She ran from facing the fact that her mother was dead. She ran from the pain that she felt inside. She ran from Batman. She ran from everything bad that happened in her life.

Soon enough, she reached the abandoned building, climbed the fire escape to the first floor and let her bookbag drop to the floor. Brooke stopped to look and around her new home, letting it all sink in. _Wow, I'm actually on my own now. This is good... I think. I'm on my way to becoming an adult, _she thought proudly._ But should a 9 year old _really_ be on their way to adulthood like this? I thought kids should live at home with their parents._ Brooke shook her head and tried to clear her head of that dreadful thought- _Living with daddy until I'm an adult... _Shuddering at the thought she tried to fill it with a new instead. _Well, I'm on my way to adulthood. And adults get their own food, right?_ And as if on cue, her stomach growled again and could only think one thought: _I should really get __something to __eat._

* * *

Tonight wasn't going so well. Brooke needed needed money so that she could buy food. But she didn't bring any with her because 1. She didn't have any and 2. There wasn't any around the house because daddy always went to the bar and bought a lot of booze and mom always spent it on drugs. So Brooke had to earn her own and decided to walk to the East End where she heard that it was a good place to earn money. She tried to steal a couple of times, but she always got caught. She tried to con people, but no one believed her. It truly was proving to be a rough night. Eventually, Brooke went to an ally, slid down the wall beside the trash can, and cried. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, hugging herself tightly- like she had so many times before. She didn't know how long she had stayed there until she heard someone approach and speak to her.

"What's going on?" the stranger asked and Brooke looked up at the man standing before her. "What's got a pretty girl like you crying- in a back ally in the East End?" Brooke continued staring at the man, his silhouette illuminated by the neon signs that were a distinguishing feature of the East End. Finally, though, she gathered enough courage to answer the man's question.

"I need money, but I need help earning it." _No need in telling him __why__ I need to earn money, _the girl thought after she spoke.

After a moment he said "Get up". Brooke did as she was told and waited for the man to say something. "Hmm, " he put a hand over his mouth and looked at her earnestly, obviously thinking about something. "He might be able to do something with you. How old are you?"

"Uh, nine." she replied.

"_Nine?_ Are you sure?" the man gave her a meaningful look, from head to toe. "You sure don't _look_ nine. Come with me." he said while walking out of the ally with Brooke following. But it was true what he said, about Brooke not looking like nine years old. She had... matured a lot earlier than most girls normally do. She had a small developing chest (enough to that she needed to wear a bra), her hips were starting to widen, and so on and so forth. And it didn't help that Brooke was a little tall for her age as well. In short, nine year old Brooke Parker looked like an eleven or twelve year old. That caused men to give her _certain_ looks. It was very unnerving for Brooke. And so was this; being lead through the East End, by a perfect stranger to only god knows where, assuming that this _stranger_ could help her earn money so that she wouldn't starve.

Luckily, it was a short walk to the unspecified destination. It was another apartment building, four stories, that looked lived in. But there were several women standing around outside. And judging from the way that they were dressed and how much make up they had on, Brooke had a pretty good idea of what this place was. And it only made the anxiety and fear that she was feeling even worse. They walk through the front door, up two flights of stairs, and down a hallway before they finally reached their destination.

_'Mr. Total Stranger'_ -as Brooke had decided to call him for the time being- knocked on the door and waited for a response.

A gruff "Come in, " came from the other side of the door. _'Mr. Total_ _Stranger_ opened it and walked in. The room was a living area equipped with a couch, a couple of chairs, a coffee table, and a TV. Nothing out of the ordinary. _Yet_.

"Hey boss, I found a girl here that says she wants to earn some money."

"Is that right? What would a pretty girl like you want to earn money for?" He asked in a very calm and relaxed manner. Asking the same question that Brooke was trying to _avoid. Well, that was just thrown right out the window. _

"Well, um" Brooke started "I ran away from home and I don't have any money and I'm _really _hungry. So I wanted to buy something to eat for dinner tonight, and if I have enough money, breakfast for tomorrow morning." she said, trying to sound confident sure of herself. Because, right now, in this situation, Brooke wasn't really sure of anything.

"Wow. Thinking of the future and not just the here and now, huh kid?" He said sounding some what... amused?

"Well, I always tend to think about the future and never the present. Unless I'm hungry." Brooke replied truthfully and honestly. And at that moment, the two men in the room laughed. _What did I say? I wasn't trying to be funny, I was just answering the question. _

"You know what kid? I like you. You can work for me."

"Really?" Brooke said, obvious joy with a hint of relief in her voice.

"Hell yeah. How old are you?"

"Nine."

"Wow. You don't _look _like you're nine." _Here we go again. "_Thanks for bringing her in Al" _Hmm, so 'Mr. Total Stranger's' name is Al. _"I'll take it from here."

"Alright. See you later boss." the man now named 'Al' said before leaving and closing the door behind him.

"Name's Nick Brown." her new boss said while standing from the chair he was in. "You work for me now. And as long as you do as I say, how I say it and when I say it, you won't have any problems. Got it, kid?"

"Y-yes, sir." Brooke managed to say.

"Call me Nick." She nodded her head. "What's your name kid?" Nick asked.

"Uh, Brooke. Brooke Parker."

"Okay, now I'm curious. What would a pretty girl like you run away from home for?" The man asked, sounding genuinely curious, but also like he's done this before.

"Well, um, uh, " she started, struggling to find words to say. "My mom died. And I didn't want to live alone with daddy. He drinks _a lot, _and does bad things." Think of her father, and the _'bad things' _that he does to Brooke made her shutter, her shoulders roll forward, and bring her arms up to hug herself.

"Hmm, I see." Nick said more to himself than to the girl standing in the room. "Well, you are working for me now. So rule number 1; if some man from these parts comes up and starts talking or asking you questions, always say that you work for Nick and walk away. You belong to me, and I don't want any of these bastards messing over something pretty like you."

"Yes, sir." Brooke repeated, good manners that she had been taught kicking in again.

"I _told_ you to call me Nick." He growled. "Dammit kid, don't you listen?" The only response he received from a little girl was a terrified look and trembling, from what he assumed was fear. "Stop being a scared little bitch, and come here. I got a job for you." He said leaving the room.

"What am I going to do?" She asked, innocence lacing her voice.

"Nothing you haven't done before." Nick replied. _'Nothing I haven't done before?' I haven't _done _that many things; I'm only nine. And how would he that I've done what I'm about to do before?_ She thought, forgetting about the people she saw standing around the building outside. Nick opened a door to a bedroom, revealing an old beat up mattress, an old nightstand, and a lamp on said nightstand. The man walked inside, with Brooke following. Looking around the room, she remembered the women that she saw prior to coming in the building. It all came flooding back to her, so much so that it gave her a headache. And know what Nick was more than likely going to do didn't make it any better. Nick turned and walked towards her, and started to pull down her pants.

But she staggered back a couple feet and pulled the waistband of her pants up as high as they would. "W-what are you doing?" Brooke asked, even though she knew all too well what he was doing.

"No, what the hell are _you_ doing?" He said while unbuckling his own pants. And right at that moment, Brooke had the most disturbing, spine chilling sense of deja vu. _No. I wanted to get away from this. That's why I ran **away**. _"You signed up for this."

"But I don't want to. Can I do something else or..." Brooke said, but was cut off by the older man.

"Look, you either do this and get money do that you can eat. Or you don't do it and starve." Nick said in a point blank manner.

_But I don't want to do that. What's the point of running away if that is still going to happen. Well, Nick probably won't hit me and call me names like daddy does. So that's something, right? And I'll earn money so I'll be able to eat. _So there Brooke stood, weighing the pros and, she finally made a decision.

"Okay... I'll do it." Brooke said, barely above a whisper.

"Speak up. I can't hear you." Nick said starting to get agitated.

"I said that I'll do it." She said again, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Alright then. Let's get to work." Nick said, moving towards the girl.

* * *

It definitely was a long day. School sucked beyond belief. _But, at least it was my last day._ When she went to Andy's house to play after school, his older brother, Matthew, had been bothering them so they couldn't play in peace. _But he is nice, though, you know when he's not messing with us. _And then she came home to find her mom dead. _No. Don't go there. Not now. _Then she got one of the worst beatings she's gotten from daddy in a long, long time.

And now here she was, walking the streets of Crime Ally- which again, probably wasn't a very bright idea- with the nine dollars- one dollar for every year old that she was- that she just earned. Brooke was pulled from her thoughts when her stomach growled, reminding her of her hunger. She looked around and found a hot dog stand. And that made Brooke's face beam with happiness, because hotdog stands sold chili dogs. And Brooke _loved_ chili dogs. But the guy seemed to be closing up. So she ran across the street, careful that there weren't any cars- especially _Batman's car_- coming and made her way to the stand.

"Hi, can I get a chili dog with onions, cheese, and relish and a small grape soda please?" She said without even asking if he was still open.

The man turned and blinked at her a couple of times before reacting. "Uh, sure. Will that be all for you?" He said, while getting her order.

"Yes, sir." She replied with a smile.

"Okay, that will be $2.33." He said, handing the girl her food.

Brooke didn't have change, so she gave him the four ones and kept the five dollar bill. The man took the money and gave her 67 cents back, as she expected.

"Have a nice night." The man called after her, as she took her leave.

"Thank you. You too." She said over her shoulder, and began eating her beloved chili dog. But as she walked, the excitement of having a chili dog started to diminish and she started to think of what happened the last couple of hours. As she neared her new home, she disposed of paper tray in a nearby wastebasket and continued to the fire escape, climbed the stairs to the first floor, found her book bag, and looked for a room to sleep in. She was still deep in thought when tears began to stream down her cheeks.

The girl found a room that looked like whoever lived here just packed up and left. There was a mattress on the floor, a few hangers still hanging in the closet, and a nightstand, not much but Brooke could make use of it. Walking slowly towards the bed, she pulled Sparkle out of her bag, let it drop to the floor, and fell onto the mattress crying. She cried about her mom. She cried about what she had to do for two hours to earn nine bucks. She cried about every possible thing that was wrong in her life.

When the tears began to slow and eventually stop, Brooke looked out the nearby window. Lamp posts outside let some light through the window and into the room, for which Brooke was grateful. On nights like this, she hated to sleep in the dark and having a small amount of light always made her feel relatively safe. So, there she lay thinking of what her new life was going to be like without her mom, her dad, and her best friend Andy when one last thought came to her. Tomorrow was her birthday.

* * *

**AN: **Okay, so there is the second chapter. For those who didn't catch it, the line "No. Don't go there. Not now", is from All Star Batman and Robin (written by Frank Miller, so if you like his work you might want to check it out) is what Dick says after his parents died. And for all you Jason Todd fans out there, you might have seen the similarities (born and raised in Crime Ally, mom drug addict, love of chili dogs, etc.) between him and is there for a reason and will be seen in later chapters. ;)

Please review and let me know what you think of the story thus far. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thank you for reading!


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